The British Association for Psychopharmacology (BAP) awarded Jason Thomas the Hannah Steinberg Award at its 2012 Summer Meeting in Harrogate, in recognition of his research.
Jason is a second year Psychology PhD student, researching ways to enhance the development of safe and effective anti-obesity drugs. He recently finished a study in which meta-chlorophenylpiperazine (an appetite reducing drug) was administered to healthy volunteers, to profile its effect on appetite and mood, using novel behavioural methods. It was possible to detect a reduction in appetite that would not have been identified by traditional measures. Also, using novel tools to investigate the psychiatric safety of the drug, it was shown that the drug was not associated with negative effects on mood, and even, showed an enhancing effect on memory.
The award is funded by the generosity of Professor Hannah Steinberg - one of the founders of BAP - and The Wolfson Foundation. Jason has also received awards from Guarantors of Brain & the Experimental Psychology Society (£500 each), to support dissemination of his research at conferences this year.